ound that he was
standing upon the body of a most ugly and repulsive-looking snake about
five feet long, thick in the body, blunt tailed, of a dark olive green
colour, variegated with irregular blotches of darker tint, and having
the broad, flat, heart-shaped head that marked it as a venomous species.
It was striking fiercely but rather ineffectually, because of its
constrained position, at his boot, while its tail part was coiled
tightly about his boot leg. A quick and lucky stroke of his sharp
sword-blade whipped off the cruel head, and then, stooping down, George
saw that his boot had been several times partially punctured by the long
poison fangs. Fortunately for him he had, at Dyer's suggestion, donned
a pair of long sea boots of thick leather which had become hardened by
frequent washings of salt water, and thus the fangs had failed to
penetrate, to which fact he undoubtedly owed his life.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

HOW THE ENGLISHMEN TOOK NOMBRE DE DIOS.

For fully two miles the adventurers pursued their devious course through
the tropical forest, sometimes groping their way cautiously through the
deep green twilight, and anon almost blinded by a sudden glare of
dazzling sunshine, as they emerged into an open space caused either by
fire or a windfall, and all the time Dyer kept up the curious cry, at
frequent intervals, which was the call of the Cimarrones. And all the
time, too, they were accompanied by a constantly increasing company of
monkeys of various kinds who, led no doubt by curiosity, went swinging
and springing from branch to branch beside and above the pathway,
exchanging strange cries which, Dyer averred, were remarks upon the
personal appearance of the strangers, uttered in monkey language!

Nor were monkeys and snakes the only inmates of the forest, for they had
scarcely progressed a quarter of a mile beyond the spot where the snake
had been encountered when a great creature like a long-legged cat, but
standing over thirty inches high at the shoulder, suddenly emerged from
the tangled underwood and halted abruptly, staring at the approaching
strangers for a few seconds before, with an angry snarl, it bounded out
of sight down the path. It was not easy to detect its colour and
markings in that dim light, but its shape stood out clear and sharply
denned against the brilliant sunlight streaming down into a windfall
just beyond, and Dyer pronounced it to be a jaguar. Then, a little
farther on, th